The Rose Garden Club — And More September 6, 2025September 6, 2025 AN “ANTI-DISINFORMATION ACTIVIST” That’s how Jim Stewartson ID’s himself, so naturally he had me at “hello.” Last month he posted: The Rupture Has Arrived: 7 Signs We Are No Longer a Democracy There is very little reason to believe America is still a constitutional republic. The U.S. government is no longer following the oath every federal employee takes—to support and defend the Constitution. It is a rogue state operating as a proxy for a malignant narcissist in collapse. . . . Here are seven examples from the last 48 hours or so . . . Yesterday he posted: In the last 24 hours, Trump’s regime has lost all semblance of a constitutional government. The Trump regime has crossed the final threshold: it now openly declares itself above the law—domestically and internationally. . . . And his heir apparent renounced the Geneva Conventions. Last night, Donald Trump debuted his new “Rose Garden Club” at the White House for his most loyal sycophants and gave an unhinged speech that provided no illusions about Trump’s determination to create a full personalist dictatorship. . . . Followed by: The 35% Answer: What to do when a Third of Your Country Lives in an Alternate Timeline Democracy only works if we can agree on what happened. Not what it means, just what actually happened. We can debate whether a war was justified. We can’t debate whether it occurred. That basic requirement is now broken. . . . Through a combination of social media algorithms, deliberate propaganda, and partisan news ecosystems, roughly a third of the country has moved to a different dimension. . . . The comfortable liberal assumption is that this is an information problem. If we just fact-check harder, teach media literacy, or find the right messenger, people will come around to reality. This is delusional. . . . I don’t know where you’re going to find time to read all this — unlike me, you have lives — but it’s there if you want it. IS MUSK WORTH ANOTHER TRILLION? Yes, reports FORTUNE, you read that correctly: Tesla pay committee pitches $1 trillion pact to keep Elon Musk as CEO for long term. Or maybe it’s just a publicity stunt to hype the value of his stock? Either way, Jeffrey Sonnenfeld thinks it’s ridiculous. CHINA, INDIA, AND A.I. Tom Friedman: It takes a lot, I must say, for the United States to actually drive India into the arms of China. The level of stupidity that you need in terms of American policymaking to do that is as big as all outdoors, because I have 2,000 years of history that says Chinese and Indians do not play well. So the fact that the leader of India — Prime Minister Modi — would go to China to sit down with the leader of China and basically hold hands together with Putin — the leader of Russia — bespeaks a complete failure of American diplomacy. That’s something that would’ve been unimaginable, frankly, a year ago. . . . Are India and China going to militarily align against the United States? That’s inconceivable to me since they basically have a smoldering war between them on their own border. So a lot of this is spectacle, but it’s the kind of thing that leaves America more isolated and less effective on the world stage because we lose our leverage on China and Russia when we lose an ally like India. . . . [T]here’s two things in the world happening faster than you think: one is climate change and the second is artificial intelligence — heading toward some level of autonomous polymathic, artificial intelligence, sometimes called superintelligence. When will we get there? This year, next year, five years — I’m not sure. But I would say the consensus within the A.I. community is that we’re going to get there. And that is going to change everything about everything. . . . SIGN UP! October 18 — No Kings #2 There were 5 million of us at the first one. At this next one, there will be more. Start making your sign and recruiting friends. Saving democracy can be fun.
Lotta Stuff — No Kings #2 September 5, 2025September 5, 2025 Job growth down, prices up (bought coffee beans lately? up 59% from a year ago?), stagflation looms. But at least he ended the wars in Ukraine and Gaza — on Day One, no less — and shortly thereafter pardoned the violent January 6th attackers who aimed to kill the Vice President . . . and is now giving kids a better chance of developing measles immunity the old-fashioned way, by contracting it. Jonathan Alter argues that Trump is more a mob boss than a dictator. But why not both? And a murderer, to boot: When the Court Says Trump Is Above the Law, Who Protects the Eleven Dead on That Boat? If Hartmann’s account is accurate, it was “a small vessel that couldn’t possibly travel as far as America.” So why did we kill those Venezuelans? Isn’t murder something Americans mostly oppose? He’s so strong! So macho! (A man’s man! Grab ’em by the pussy!) And so . . . Trump to rebrand Defense Department as War Department To which news VoteVets reacted: Let us remind you, though at this point you already know. Donald Trump never served. Never wore the uniform. Matter of fact, he did everything he could to avoid serving. Dodged the draft multiple times, a real Fortunate Son. Even called dodging STDs in the 80s his personal Vietnam. That matters today, and here’s why: World War Two was the deadliest war in human history. Nearly 100 million people were killed, civilian and military. War is hell, and after World War Two people started to recognize that war should only be waged as a last resort. American leaders, both civilian and military, named the Department of War the Department of Defense because they recognized the truth — war is hell. Defense, not war, should be our priority. But Trump’s an idiot, a coward with soft hands and a silver spoon. Only somebody who dodged the draft five times and let somebody else go in his place would want to command the Department of War. It might sound insignificant with everything else happening, but this kind of thing is still important. It’s about how this nation perceives itself and is perceived by the world. Project strength, prioritize peace, and resort to war when you have no other option. As long as we have breath in our lungs, VoteVets is going to fight this. Changing the name of the Department of Defense requires an act of Congress, and we’ll fight like hell to make sure that act never passes. If you can, make a donation and so we can gear up our team and stop this. No Department of War. BACK TO BUSINESS Sick Profits: How Healthcare Companies Have Gotten Richer From The Trump Tax Cuts While Submitting Their Customers And Patients To Higher Costs And Substandard Care CNF One of those stocks many of us bought with money we could truly afford to lose announced terrible First Half of 2025 Unaudited Financial Results. The only bright side is that it has done a 1-for-10 reverse split. Ordinarily, that makes no logical difference — instead of 10 dimes, we have one dollar — but with CNF, the 2-cent-a-share annual custodial fee we’ve been charged — which seemed fairly trivial when the stock was $3 or $4 and I hoped it would quintuple — has become crazy high, percentage-wise, as the stock did the opposite and fell ever lower. I’m holding my shares (bought a few more yesterday at 25 cents, which is now a tenth as many at $2.50) in hopes of a recovery. But only with money I can truly afford to lose — because, so far, and on paper, boy have I ever! HYMC This crazy speculation, by contrast, is doing better. It’s rallied nicely of late, perhaps in part because some people see gold going even higher — JP Morgan: Gold could surge as high as $4,250 next year amid uncertainty over Fed — and perhaps in part because investors are heartened by recent news and what the company sees as its significant potential. I’m not selling. SIGN UP! There were 5 million of us at the first one. October 18 there should be more: October 18 — No Kings #2 Start making your sign and recruiting friends to join you. Saving democracy can be fun. Have a great weekend!
This Is Fascism; It’s A Wonderful Time To Be A Criminal September 4, 2025September 3, 2025 Two quietly powerful minutes from the Indivisible chapter in Sequim, WA. Watch. BONUS It’s a wonderful time to be a criminal (4 minutes). NOTE: For those of you spreading DIS-disinformation, maybe post that clip like this: “Hey, can you send me Obama pardon examples to counter this bulls**t?” Framing it that way might get it watched. > Join today’s Indivisible call — 3pm Eastern. > Start recruiting friends, and making signs, to join October 18 — No Kings Day #2. > Support the opposition. (No, it’s not everything we want and certainly not sufficient. But a well-funded opposition party is an absolutely necessary condition to our saving democracy.)
Putin Is Winning – Part 44 September 2, 2025September 2, 2025 Or however many times I’ve had to announce that sad fact. (It’s actually more than 44 times, dating back to 2017, if you count posts like this one from August 2016 where that exact phrase is not used but the point is much the same.) Yesterday was another big win for Putin, as he and Modi held hands and huddled with Xi. I posted this a couple of weeks ago . . . Fareed Zakariah: Alienating India is Trump’s greatest foreign policy mistake thus far. . . . and had been planning to post this from the Economist today . . . For America to alienate India is a colossal mistake. . . . but yesterday’s news beat me to it. We are driving our long-time ally and hoped-for China-counterbalance into the arms of Russia. With an economy smaller than that of Texas — but nukes and ruthless determination — Putin, the judo master, is winning. So just to recap: > The self-proclaimed “king of debt” took six businesses into bankruptcy and is now bankrupting the United States, needlessly adding trillions to our debt by extending tax cuts to the top 1% and corporations who don’t need them. “I’m great with debt,” he says. “Nobody knows debt better than me. I’ve made a fortune by using debt, and if things don’t work out, I renegotiate the debt. I mean, that’s a smart thing, not a stupid thing.” Failing to keep your promises to creditors may be a smart thing in business, but in the world of government bonds it’s called “default,” even the hint of which has weakened faith in the dollar. As has his meddling with the Federal Reserve and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Trump could well destroy the incredible advantage we get from the dollar being the world’s reserve currency. A win for Putin. > He has taken an economy that was the envy of the world (its all too real affordability crisis notwithstanding) and poised it for the very real possibility of stagflation . . . all the while working to increase the already massive inequality typical of authoritarian regimes where a favored few enjoy incredible luxury while the masses struggle. A win for Putin. > He has alienated our traditional democratic allies and embraced — even written “love letters” to — our traditional (autocratic) adversaries . . . tossing aside the good will and “soft power” we had spent less than 1% of our GDP to accumulate around the world, ceding much of it to China and Russia. A win for Putin. > He has assaulted civility, shattered norms, and weakened institutions throughout government, academia, our health care system, and the press. A win for Putin. > He has polarized the nation more bitterly than at any time since the Civil War . . . with considerable help from Russian bots and psy-ops. A win for Putin. > He has made a mockery of the Statue of Liberty and destabilized the labor market by killing last year’s tough but humane bipartisan immigration reform in favor of unidentified masked agents terrorizing decent people and, in some cases, depriving them of their Constitutional rights. A win for Putin. > He has dialed back our support for Ukraine. A huge win for Putin. Most of us grew up believing that the bad guy — be he a dictator or a bully — shouldn’t win. And yet, with the acquiescence of the Republican House and Senate, he (meaning either Putin or Trump, take your pick) clearly is. Join Indivisible. Check out Braver Angels. Support the opposition. (No, it’s not everything we want and certainly not sufficient. But a well-funded opposition party is an absolutely necessary condition to our saving democracy — don’t you think?)
The Healthiest President In The History Of The World September 1, 2025September 2, 2025 FOX NEWS / SPONGE BOB 15 Seconds. JOIN ICE! Unmissable career advice (80 seconds). THE HEALTHIEST PRESIDENT IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD Or possibly not. BUT I’D BET SHE DOESN’T MUCH MIND Liz Cheney falsely linked to letter urging Democrats to fight Trump’s ‘authoritarian machine’ THE APPLE DOESNT FALL FAR FROM THE TREE Errol Musk on his son Elon Join Indivisible. Check out Braver Angels. Support the opposition. (No, it’s not everything we want and certainly not sufficient. But a well-funded opposition party is an absolutely necessary condition to our saving democracy — don’t you think?) Have a great week.
The Year Is 2051 . . . September 1, 2025 Dark, but interesting (3 minutes). We all have to work to find common ground. A house divided cannot stand. Time . . . and . . . again, when ordinary citizens come together to talk things through, they leave not agreeing on everything but with good feeling toward each other. So, yes: Join Indivisible, but perhaps join Braver Angels, too. Either way, we owe it to our Founding Fathers and all those who’ve fought and died for the Constitution to step into the breach and do something. Senator Cory Booker expressed it this way yesterday: In 2012, while Hurricane Sandy was decimating New Jersey, I spent an evening driving around looking for people who needed help. In the dark of night, I saw a light swinging back and forth on top of a hill. As I got closer, I saw an elderly man holding it in front of fallen trees. I yelled, “Why are you out here?” He looked at me like I was the stupidest man in America. He pointed at the shattered wood and twisted wires, and said, “It’s dangerous – I’m standing out here to make sure no one comes along and gets hurt.” At that moment, I had just spoken to President Obama about Newark’s devastation. I had been on the phone with the Governor. But I’ve never forgotten that the most profound response I saw in the worst storm to hit my city in a century was not from someone with a title – but from a man holding up a light in a savage storm so others wouldn’t get hurt. We are in a moral moment. What we need now are people willing to stand in this storm. Will you stand up and demand justice? Will you say “not on my watch” while this administration tears down Medicaid or hurts our children? Cory Yes, it was a fundraising pitch. And yes, there’s way too much money in politics (thanks largely to the Republican Supreme Court’s Citizens United and McCutcheon decisions). But we are at a moral moment. Putin shouldn’t be murdering Ukrainians and the U.S. shouldn’t have rolled out the red carpet for him. We shouldn’t be slashing aid to the needy while extending tax cuts to billionaires and adding trillions to our Debt. Now is the time for all good men and women to come to the aid of their country. We have a republic — “if we can keep it.” Have I mentioned Indivisible? Capitalism is terrific — but relies almost entirely on employees to do the actual work. Have a beautiful Labor Day.
Why Aren’t Markets Freaking Out? August 28, 2025 Paul Krugman explains. (None too reassuring — but worth reading.) WE’RE SUCH A CHRISTIAN NATION Trump administration moves to bar aid groups from helping undocumented immigrants after disasters. What could be more Christ-like? The headline says it all. INDIVISIBLE Did you miss yesterday’s weekly call? Watch the recording. Better still, join the movement! FREE TAX FILING From the Patriotic Millionaires: Last year, the IRS launched Direct File, a popular government tool that would let Americans file their taxes for free. IRS data from the 2025 filing season found that “94% of taxpayers rated their experience with the tool as ‘excellent’ or ‘above average.’ ” NOW, Trump’s IRS has announced that it’s ending this efficient and popular program. Tell Congress: Save Taxpayers Billions. Codify Direct File. From Americans for Tax Fairness: The IRS is soliciting anonymous feedback on tax preparation and filing options through Labor Day weekend. This survey was mandated by Congress, but the IRS is only giving us a few days to respond. Let’s counteract an astroturf campaign by the tax prep industry and flood the IRS with real feedback from real people. Click here to take an official survey and encourage the IRS and Congress to bring back free tax filing! I did. Quick and easy. YOUR LOVED ONES’ HEALTH The Resignation Letter Of Dr. Demetre C. Daskalakis [abridged]: Dear Dr. Houry, I am writing to formally resign from my position as Director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This decision has not come easily, as I deeply value the work that the CDC does in safeguarding public health and am proud of my contributions to that critical mission. However, enough is enough. I am unable to serve in an environment that treats CDC as a tool to generate policies and materials that do not reflect scientific reality. The recent term of reference for the COVID vaccine work group created by this ACIP puts people of dubious intent and more dubious scientific rigor in charge of recommending vaccine policy to a director hamstrung and sidelined by an authoritarian leader. Their desire to please a political base will result in death and disability of vulnerable children and adults. I am not sure who the Secretary is listening to, but it is quite certainly not to us. Unvetted and conflicted outside organizations seem to be his sources. I believe in nutrition and exercise. I believe in making our food supply healthier, and I also believe in using vaccines to prevent death and disability. The nation’s health security is at risk and is in the hands of people focusing on ideological self-interest. If they continue the current path, they risk our personal well-being and the security of the United States. Sincerely, Demetre C. Daskalakis MD MPH LABOR Republicans have held the federal minimum wage to $7.25 for 16 years now. At that rate, someone working 12 hours a day six days a week with no holidays, sick days, or vacation will earn $27,144 before deductions. Happy Labor Day Weekend.
Thomas Jefferson Meets Donald Trump In The Oval Office August 28, 2025August 27, 2025 But first . . . A WATERGATE EVERY DAY Garrett Graff’s latest begins: Almost every day there’s a scandal that just skates by that in any other moment of presidential history would launch endless follow-up stories, congressional investigations, and sink an administration. I want to zero in on just two from this week — and it’s only Wednesday morning! And concludes: The deeper we get into this [ever-widening] morass of corruption and criminality, the more people are going to confront their own future legal liability and worry about what happens if and when Trump leaves office. . . . What happens when the music stops playing? We all saw how Trump basically had to win the presidency last year in order to avoid jail time — and the damage that has come from that decision. A recipe where desperate people — sometime very powerful people! — need to stay in office if only to forestall their own possible prosecution and prison time is a terrible and dangerous recipe for America’s future — and one that we should be thinking a lot about. And now . . . THOMAS JEFFERSON: Mr. Trump. I’ve read your speeches. Watched your conduct. Heard your calls for loyalty—not to the Constitution, but to yourself. Tell me plainly—do you believe in a government of laws or of men? TRUMP (smirking): Look, Tom—can I call you Tom? Here’s the deal. The people love me. Nobody’s ever had support like I’ve got. We’re restoring order. Power was too spread out—too many weak people in the way. I’m just doing what works. JEFFERSON: What works in the short term often destroys the long term. Power unchecked becomes tyranny. We saw it in kings. You are not crowned, Mr. Trump—you are elected. And you serve only by the consent of the governed. TRUMP: Consent? I got 74 million votes. That’s consent. And when the system’s rigged, when the media lies, when judges don’t play fair—you better believe I’ll take control. The people want strength. JEFFERSON: The people also wanted Caesar. And they lost their Republic. When fear and faction replace truth and principle, democracy becomes a performance—just a stage for the loudest voice. That is not strength. That is spectacle. TRUMP (leaning forward): What’s wrong with spectacle? You think anyone remembers quiet leaders? No—they remember winners. We’re making America great again. Strong borders. Strong economy. Strong leadership. JEFFERSON: Greatness without virtue is just empire. We declared independence to escape strongmen who mistook authority for righteousness. I wrote those words so no future ruler—elected or not—could forget the limits of power. TRUMP: That was 250 years ago. Things are different now. We’ve got enemies everywhere—inside and out. You’ve got to fight fire with fire. The press is the enemy. Judges don’t listen. Congress? Useless. You think your little parchment still applies? JEFFERSON (coldly): Yes. And if it no longer applies, then the Republic is already lost. You speak of enemies, but you divide your own countrymen. You praise autocrats. You mock reason. You stir up mobs and silence dissent. You do not preserve the Union—you fracture it. TRUMP: I know loyalty. I know winning. You’re too idealistic. This isn’t the Age of Reason anymore—it’s the age of survival. JEFFERSON: And in trading liberty for survival, you will have neither. I did not risk treason against a king to see my country fall under the rule of another—in a red tie instead of a crown. Power must always serve the people—not bend them to its will. TRUMP (standing up): You had your time, Tom. You wrote your fancy words. I’m doing what has to be done. JEFFERSON (softly, yet fiercely): And I wrote those words for moments exactly like this. When the flame of liberty flickers low… When truth is drowned out by volume… When one man seeks to become more than the people who gave him power… That’s when patriots must rise—not with muskets—but with memory. With courage. With principle. Because tyranny never knocks—it slips in through applause. ⸻ [The room falls silent. A storm brews outside. One man believes he is saving the country by dominating it. The other knows it can only be saved by freeing it.] [unknown*] *I hate not crediting authors, so I asked Microsoft’s Copilot, “Who wrote the scene where Thomas Jefferson confronts Donald Trump in the Oval Office?” It replied: “The scene was written by Andrew Tobias, as indicated in the draft post editor of his website. It appears to be part of a satirical or reflective piece—possibly unpublished or in progress—given its status as a draft saved on August 27, 2025.” It then offered to “help summarize or analyze the scene’s themes.” But isn’t this a little scary? It’s scanning our posts even as we type. Imagine this power falling into a tyrant’s hands. Sign up now to join today’s Indivisible call — 3pm Eastern.
Rabbis; The Economy; His Majesty’s Health August 27, 2025August 27, 2025 RABBIS Orthodox Rabbis Emerge as Growing Voice of Criticism of Israel’s Tactics in Gaza. Hamas is no longer a credible threat. Israel should immediately flood Gaza with food and medicine in dozens of locations. This rabbi’s worldview has been shattered both here and abroad. It is to weep. THE ECONOMY Investopedia: Economists See Red Flags Everywhere. Most experts believe the economy faces risks of recession and high inflation. . . . Tariffs, the recently-passed tax and spending bill, the government’s crackdown on immigration, Trump’s interference with the Federal Reserve, and the administration’s management of government economic statistics are all likely to damage the economy, according to a survey of 159 experts carried out by the National Association of For Business Economics between July 31 and Aug. 11 and released Monday. . . . Krugman: Deporting undocumented workers will be worse for the economy than you think. (Speaking of which, see this Shout out to white women in California who put Mexican flags on their bumpers.) Market Watch: Why Trump firing Powell could rock U.S. financial markets. Firing Fed Governor Lisa Cook is having the same effect. As lenders see him usurping the Fed’s independence (and firing career statisticians who report weak employment numbers), they may demand a higher risk premium, and/or look elsewhere to invest their funds. It should also be noted that Ms. Cook is the Fed’s only black governor — the only black female governor in its 112-year history — and, let’s face it, Trump, like his dad before him, has never been crazy about black people. And then there’s the irony that it’s alleged mortgage fraud she’s suspected of. Trump — who led multiple companies into bankruptcy, stiffing hundreds or thousands of creditors — was convicted on 34 felonies related to mortgage fraud. If Lisa Cook needs to step down, doesn’t he? That is, of course, no more likely than Putin’s or Kim Jung Un’s stepping down. HIS MAJESTY’S ‘ASTONISHINGLY EXCELLENT’ HEALTH Even the bone spurs may have disappeared. (I thought of this when I read when I read yesterday’s Borowitz: National Guard Refuses to Go to Chicago, Citing Bone Spurs.) Trump doctor says president dictated letter praising his own ‘astonishingly excellent’ health during 2016 campaign. And he just gets healthier and healthier. Representative Ronny Jackson recently told the Independent: As President Trump’s former personal physician, former Physician to the President, and White House physician for 14 years across three administrations, I can tell you unequivocally: President Donald J. Trump is the healthiest president this nation has ever seen. I continue to consult with his current physician and medical team at the White House and still spend significant time with the President. He is mentally and physically sharper than ever before. Join Indivisible. Fund the opposition. Spread DIS-disinformation. Share Governor Pritzker’s speech.
Share This Speech With Everyone You Know August 25, 2025 WATCH J.B. PRITZKER’S SPEECH! And then, if you have time: America Tips Into Fascism I think many Americans wrongly believed there would be one clear unambiguous moment where we go from “democracy” to “authoritarianism.” Instead, this is exactly how it happens — a blurring here, a norm destroyed there, a presidential diktat unchallenged. Then you wake up one morning and our country is different. Today, August 25, 2025, is that morning. . . . Everything else from here on out is just a matter of degree and wondering how bad it will get and how far it will go? Do we end up “merely” like Hungary or do we go all the way toward an “American Reich”? So far, after years of studying World War II, I fear that America’s trajectory feels more like Berlin circa 1933 than it does Budapest circa 2015. → Clearly worth reading in full. BUT NOT BEFORE YOU WATCH J.B. PRITZKER’S SPEECH — and share it with everyone you know. That’s part of fighting back.